Representative Henry Waxman called the chief executive officers of AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., Caterpillar Inc. and Deere & Co. to provide evidence to support costs the companies plan to book related to the new health-care law.

Waxman of California, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak of Michigan released letters they wrote to the executives, saying their plans to record expenses against earnings as a result of the law contradict other estimates. The lawmakers requested the executives appear at hearing Stupak plans on April 21.

The new law is designed to expand coverage and bring down costs, so your assertions are a matter of concern, Waxman and Stupak, both Democrats, wrote in the letters yesterday. They also appear to conflict with independent analyses.

AT&T, the biggest U.S. phone company, is among employers that have announced plans to book costs related to the health- care law signed this week by President Barack Obama. The 10- year, $940-billion legislation is intended to cover 32 million uninsured Americans and provide benefits such as restricting premiums and ending the practice of denying coverage for pre- existing conditions.

I heard earlier today that about 3500 companies participate in this program. And if publicly traded, they ALL have to report these losses within the quarter they are announced. Which is the first quarter of 2010. That is the law.

The deadline of which is Wednesday this upcoming week.

LOL

6
posted on 03/28/2010 4:36:02 AM PDT
by Daisyjane69
(Michael Reagan: "Welcome back, Dad, even if you're wearing a dress and bearing children this time)

This is like anyone of us average citizens telling these big corporations that make billions how to run thier business efficiently. To a##clown elitists with no knowledge of business let alone governance

Waxman and Stupak, two of the smartest men in America, are shocked that their massive Communist takeover of one sixth of the economy will raise costs to employers. Perhaps this is why every economic and unemployment report is “unexpectedly” worse than first thought?

Of course we must trot out DemonRAT lapdog GE to say “we don't expect to have higher costs this year”.

Oh no! Eeeeeeevil CEOs want to drop your health care coverage just because they want to make money! How rotten! Why, we must quickly institute the public option so these poor, abused and exploited workers no longer depend on eeeeeevil business to take care of them, especially since those businesses would just as soon sneak into their homes at night and hold a pillow over their babies mouths and noses just to save a buck, ya know.

Let's see if I got Waxman's rant about right.

17
posted on 03/28/2010 4:45:00 AM PDT
by pepsi_junkie
(Who is John Galt?)

And this is how I fear it will continue to be. Over time, anyone who points out the costs, the disregard of the constitution, the very wrongness of the so called healthcare bill, will be singled out, demonized, harassed, punished. If government is allowed to continue down this road it will become illegal to speak out against the government on any matter. There are those who think I am over reacting. History tells me no I am not. This is the way of all dictatorships.

Please, CEOs, kick the polemic crap out of that freak of nature, Waxman, and other socialists on the panel. Show them and the rest of us that the country is not the government and that the country will not stand by to be spoliated by a small group of social planners headed by a community organizer.

“Here are the new hellcare laws! You must spent a billion dollars, or else! What? Your accounting says it will cost you a billion dollars? COOK YOUR BOOKS to say otherwise! We CANNOT have the American public knowing we LIED......yet again!”

22
posted on 03/28/2010 4:51:02 AM PDT
by a real Sheila
(3-21-10 The first shot of the 2nd American Revolution!)

Obama and the Dems made such a deal: Corporations were paying for 72% of pharmaceutical benefits for retirees and the government was paying for 28%. This kept retirees out of medicare prescription coverage. Now that the cost has gone up because the government no longer is going to send the Corporations the 28% Obama & the Dems are stunned that 1) accounting rules dictate that the coporations have to book the loss of the 28% for the next few decades that they anticipate the retirees receiving this benefit will live and estimate the liability on new retirees AND calculate if now is the right time to bump them off the corporate benefit plan and make medicare absorb 100% of the cost of them.

I’m sure you saw yesterday the dems were ALREADY BLAMING Repubs for the ‘mandatory coverage for everyone’ part of the bill! And the media ran with it, reporting it as fact.
As more poop hits the fan, before long I expect the media to report that Repubs wrote the ENTIRE BILL!

Dems own it and they can SHOVE IT.

24
posted on 03/28/2010 4:53:27 AM PDT
by a real Sheila
(3-21-10 The first shot of the 2nd American Revolution!)

That is because, unlike 3M, AT & T, Caterpillar, etc, GE long ago DUMPED their retirees off the prescription benefit and onto the taxpayer by moving them to medicare coverage. Now AT & T, 3M etc will be inclined to do the same as they are expected to foot 100% of the cost of retiree prescriptions instead of 72%.

The costs of the health bill will ultimately be billed to consumers, which can only weaken America’s corporations and lead to further downward pressures on an already shakey economy. Our nation’s congressmen clearly flunked Econ 101; not that they care - unlike workers in the private sector, their salaries and perks are all quite ample and secure, thank you.

The new law is designed to expand coverage and bring down costs, so your assertions are a matter of concern, Waxman and Stupak, both Democrats, wrote in the letters yesterday. They also appear to conflict with independent analyses.

This is hilarious!

This is like a pharmaceutical company demanding that a dying man prove he is dying because they have an independent analysis that showed their medicine was the cure.

It is apples & oranges. The loss to AT&% and others arises because they still carry retirees on their benefit plans for prescription coverage. Previously the government was paying 28% of this cost but no more - this bill cuts off that 28% so the companies have to book the additional expense for all future years in the current period as a result of the loss of this 28%. BUT they will also now do what GE did a long time ago - dump retirees prescriptions on medicare and so medicare will now pay 100% instead of 28%.

I didn't get that far in my studies of it, but can I also assume do to "Sarbanes Oxley" they have to report it right away, and the CEO must sign it and risk jail time if they don't? It sounds like they will "ammortize" the loss over the time frame you mentioned vs. taking a one time hit, Why?

The irony is Corp America is held to a much higher accounting standard than Congress. The RNC should in their 2nd Contract with America (what ever they call it, if they even have the brains to go their) make Congress abide by Sarbanes Oxley. Then watch the resignations and watch them reach for the Kayopectate.

Gentlemen, See that man over there he is from the IRS. Have any of you ever had your personal returns audited? I got a feeling the CEOs will fall in line with the government line.

They can't "fall in line", they would be breaking the law and would go to jail. This administration has no power to force these companies to come in for an "interrogation", regardless of what they say. If they had the power they would have issued subpoenas.

I think what's going on is that these companies are ready to dump health insurance for their employees and take the fines instead. The fines are much cheaper than the insurance. The fines would have to be paid right up front whereas the savings from not having to pay for their insurance comes at the end of the fiscal year and that's where the write-off is. The union workers will have to realize soon that Communism comes at a price.

I don’t think you’re overreacting. It will very soon be illegal to demur in any way from our Great Leader’s plans. Let me clarify: it won’t actually be illegal, because there won’t actually be any laws providing this. But they won’t need the laws, because they’ll enforce it in other ways, ranging from media shows to tax harrassment to, if they can manage it, trumped up criminal charges on other matters.

"It is apples & oranges. The loss to AT&% and others arises because they still carry retirees on their benefit plans for prescription coverage. Previously the government was paying 28% of this cost but no more - this bill cuts off that 28% so the companies have to book the additional expense for all future years in the current period as a result of the loss of this 28%. BUT they will also now do what GE did a long time ago - dump retirees prescriptions on medicare and so medicare will now pay 100% instead of 28%."

So GE doesn't cover any prescription costs of its retirees? That piece of information won't be reported, of course.

No to amortizing the loss. The company carried a liability on its balance sheet representing a projected cost for retiree benefits for a few decades of expense based on having to pay 72% of the losses. They had already hit the income statement with this charge as they built the liability up over financial years as employees retired and the company decided to allow them to remain on the company drug plan. Now the calculations for all those years are off by the 28% the government was paying. They have to take a hit now on the income statement for the entire amount that loss of 28% for a number of years in the future represents based on actuary calculations. The companies will now weight whether they should just dump the retirees off the company drug plan and onto the government (medicare) so medicare pays 100% of the cost. If they did this they could reverse a lot of accrued expense on their books and then watch the Democrats brag how their HCR enabled companies to shave costs WHEN IN FACT their doing so dumped it on medicare!

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